


The Canoe Ride Explained

by orphan_account



Series: Filling in the Blanks [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canoe lake, Fighting, Fluff, M/M, Making Up, Smut, Tension and Release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 14:59:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10744053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: That part in The Trials of Apollo book one where the thing attacks the camp and for some reason Nico and Will are canoeing.....  in January.....  in New York....  That part always bugged me.  Why, boys, why?Here's why.....





	The Canoe Ride Explained

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this is a repost. But I changed some things from before, so have a re-read. :)

Apollo stumbled into Cabin 7 to try to nap, and nearly collided with Will who looked just as bleary eyed as he felt himself. Apollo experienced a pang of guilt as it occurred to him that he hadn't given his son more than a passing thought the night through, and had abandoned him to spend the night in the empty cabin alone. 

"I'm so sorry, Will," he began, "I didn't even think... Did you sleep at all?" 

Will turned bright red, "um, what? Ah... I... Yeah... I...," he babbled.

"What?" It was Apollo's turn to be confused.

"What?" Will repeated. They stared at each other. It slowly dawned on both of them that were talking about different things.

Apollo started again, "I'm sorry you had to be alone here last night. I was so focused on the woods, I didn't even think...."

Will nodded in acknowledgment, and then shook his head, "no, I wasn't here last night."

Apollo felt even worse. He should've helped Will with the infirmary night shift. "Will, I..." apologizing was a human skill not coming easily to Apollo; though he was certainly getting practice at it.

"I spent the night with Nico," Will interrupted, cheeks blazing again. "So, yeah, I slept, a bit...". Will fought a losing battle with a proud and satisfied smile. Apollo still had enough godly memory to know what that smile could mean, but he felt his innocent human-teenager ears go pink. He strained his mind for an appropriate fatherly comment for this situation. Normally he would offer congratulations and pointers, but he wasn't sure a human dad would be so... conspiratorial. His reaction, therefore, ended up much more human-dad than he ever could've hoped: awkward silence while avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah, well... anyway..." Will broke the silence, rubbing his neck. "What happened overnight?"

Apollo filled Will in on Rachel Elisabeth Dare's visit and their suspicions about the failures of the oracles. He and Meg had plans to return to the forest this afternoon, and he was to try and sleep now to prepare. Will was grateful that a plan of action had been decided upon. He was tired, too, but was going to grab some breakfast before heading back to bed. Before he left, he thoughtfully pulled the curtains to block out some of the winter morning sun as Apollo crawled into bed. As Will brought an extra blanket to drape over him, Apollo reached out his hand and placed it on Will's arm. 

"I'm really proud of you, Will, for how you handled yourself yesterday - your skills with the wounded, but also your focus and strength." Will paused, surprised at the sincere praise, and how grateful he was for it.

"It actually took a lot out of me," he admitted gravely, "I really broke down last night. Thank the gods for Nico..."

Apollo yawned and furrowed his brow, "What do you see in that son of Hades?"

Will tucked the blanket in around Apollo's shoulders, his expression neutral but his mind flashing through images of his boyfriend like a slideshow on fastforward - Nico brutal and fearless on the battlefield brandishing his sword and commanding the dead, Nico softly kissing along his collarbone, Nico clowning around with the youngest campers, Nico sliding his hand into Will's back pocket, Nico fiercely debating with Chiron about some obscure passage in Dante's "Inferno" - in Italian, Nico's dark curls in his fingers, Nico's mouth around his cock; intense, funny, smart, sexy... "How much time do you have?" he finally said. But Apollo was already asleep.  
*****  
When Apollo awoke, refreshed but anxious, he saw that Will was now snoring softly in his own bunk. He left the cabin as quietly as he could. It was well after lunch but Apollo was able to obtain a couple sandwiches and an orange. To nervous to sit, he walked around, avoiding other campers as much as possible, and found himself at the back entrance of the practice arena where he couldn't see anyone, but could hear sounds of exertion from inside. Stepping just inside the doorway, Apollo stood and stared, his half-peeled orange forgotten. Apollo immediately recognized what he was witnessing - Spartan hand-to-hand combat, the ancient martial art of Pankration, favoured by Hercules. At the centre of the practice arena, two shadowy warriors were mid-technique with a young man whose shirtless and leanly-muscled torso gleamed with sweat above belted black jeans and boots. Apollo could barely recognize the intense fighter as his son's boyfriend, Nico di Angelo. Taking on both warriors simultaneously, Nico's execution was perfect, his exertion evident by his ferocious vocalizations. The graceful movements were balanced, controlled and brutal in their strength. Apollo knew he was witnessing a skilled warrior. Nico's teacher, a shadow of none other than the Spartan king Leonidis I (a descendant of Hercules), applauded just before Nico collapsed to the ground. His face was scrunched in pain, and he stomped his boot against the ground, dispelling his training-partners back to the underworld. 

"I'm impressed," Apollo called out. "Two original Spartans at once! I could see they weren't holding back, either." 

If Nico was surprised to see his boyfriend's teenaged dad, he didn't show it, or maybe he was too exhausted to change his facial expression. "Do you have any nectar, by chance?" he moaned.

Apollo trotted over to him and squatted down beside him. "I have an orange..." he offered half to Nico who fumbled it towards his mouth and sucked the juice greedily. After a moment he opened his eyes and focused. He took Apollo's offered hand and maneuvered into a sitting position. Apollo took in his jaggedly scarred arms, as well as a finer slash mark at the base of his ribcage. He pointed at the scars, "Those aren't from practice fights with ghosts..."

Nico was now eating the dessicated bits of orange, and Apollo handed him the other half. 

"Nope", Nico acknowledged. "Lycaon, Eros, Orion, others I can't remember..."

Apollo's mouth dropped open in surprise. "You've personally battled gods and giants and archetypes? ...You're one of the questing heroes, aren't you? Why didn't you say anything the other day at dinner when I asked about Percy, and Leo and the others? I didn't know I had one of the A-list right here!"

"Whoa." Nico glared in his direction, "Stop. I was always, shall we say, accidentally-on-purpose part of the quests, never directly summoned by prophecy. So technically, I wasn't one of the seven. And, I'm out of commission, as you can see..."

Apollo snorted, "From what I could see you could take on Hercules himself!"

"Ha!" Nico shook his head, "maybe if I had my sword, too, I could last about three minutes.". He looked seriously over at Apollo. "I almost died from over-exertion of my underworld powers in August, and I'm still not back up to snuff. These practice sessions do me in. It's exhausting to control the ghosts and fight properly at the same time." Nico reached over to grab his sweatshirt. He was starting to shiver. "You know, after August, I thought I’d never care to fight ever again. But I miss it. I can't resist the training, and no one at camp in the winter is any good, especially with the old Spartan techniques.”

They both got to their feet. 

"I guess you and Meg are heading out soon?" Nico asked.

Apollo nodded. "I should get to the armory and find some weapons," he stated trepidatiously. 

"Is Will still sleeping, do you know?", Nico asked as they walked out of the arena. 

"He was when I woke up," Apollo admitted "Hey, thanks for taking care of him last night," he added.

Nico's eyes popped and he blushed deeply. "What?", he said evasively.

"Deja vu", Apollo thought. He held up both hands in a placating gesture. "I know no details," he reassured. "I just know Will's lucky to have you, son of Hades."

****

After seeing Apollo and Meg off into the woods a little later, Will was wound tight as a spring with anxiety, jumpy and irritable. After dinner, Nico helped him complete the evening rounds at the infirmary and in the cabins. Everyone was pretty much healed. Nico was feeling pretty tired, but he didn't dare complain. The last thing Will needed was to worry about whether his boyfriend was over-exerting himself again.

They ended up in the empty Apollo cabin where Will sat heavily on his bunk with his head in his hands. Nico sat close beside him and rubbed his back tenderly. 

"Do you want me to just go so you can sleep?" Nico asked softly. 

Will turned to him with almost a glare, "Don't you dare go!" he growled.

Nico's heart hammered in his chest as Will turned and practically lunged toward him, pushing him down on the bunk with a hungry kiss, hands on either side of his face. Nico returned the kiss, open-mouthed and eager, as Will straddled him. It was like Will was trying to swallow him! When they broke apart for air, Nico's bruised lips sought Will's neck and he reached into his hair to pull him closer. But before his lips could touch Will's skin, Will was clawing at the hem of Nico's shirt. Nico curled up and Will whipped off the t-shirt in one deft motion. Nico took the hint - Will didn’t need romance, he needed release!

Nico copied Will’s move with Will’s shirt, tossing it away. There was a pause while they’d eyed each other silently, chests heaving. Nico didn’t break the eye contact as he reached for his own belt buckle, and Will mirrored him: buckles, buttons, zippers, standing by the bed, wriggling out of clothes, kicking them away. Nico pushed naked Will back onto the bunk and used his mouth and his hands until he had Will panting. Glancing up, Nico could see Will’s eyes squeezed closed, cheeks scarlet. Nico felt himself throbbing at seeing Will so close. 

"William", he whispered, not slowing his hand. "William," he repeated so softly, his voice completely at odds with the fire of the moment. Will's eyes fluttered open with great effort at the sound of his proper name. "Watch yourself come," Nico whispered, impeccably timed as Will looked down and finished with such force the white liquid splashed against his own cheek and ear and into his hair. Nico butterfly-kissed Will's open mouth until the shuddering ceased. And then he smiled as Will seemed to melt beneath him onto his back on the bed. Will still hadn't said a word. Nico watched him while he grabbed the closest thing - his own t-shirt - and, lying down beside Will on his side, thoughtfully wiped Will's face and ear as best he could. 

"Sorry about that," he murmured. Will turned to look at him sharply, then, realizing, brought his fingers to his ear and grimaced slightly, but shrugged. They continued to simply lay beside each other, Nico absently stroking himself, basking in Will's now perfectly relaxed state. Will eventually seemed to come-to and rolled to face Nico. 

"Thank you," he softly said, stroking Nico's cheek. "I'm sorry I've been so self-focused lately." Nico shook his head in protest, turning his head so he could reach Will's hand with his mouth and kiss his fingers. Will moved said fingers to caress down Nico's shoulder and arm, and took over Nico’s self-pleasure for moment before releasing him and sliding down. Feeling Will's tongue where his fingers had been, Nico threw his head back and closed his eyes. The wet and the heat as Will worked Nico into his mouth was incredible and Nico's other senses were completely taken over by the building sensation between his legs; sight and hearing disappeared - he was all throbbing cock. "Faster, Will, please!" he moaned. They moved together so Nico could roll onto his back and Will could set an exquisitely feverish pace, bringing Nico rapidly to explosive climax. As Nico lay, stunned, Will kissed his way back up to nestle against Nico's shoulder. When Nico stopped seeing stars, he kissed Will's forehead, post-coital fatigue washing over both of them. Pretty much by the time they wriggled together under the covers, they were both soundly asleep.

****

No time seemed to have passed when both boys were jolted awake by loud pounding on the door of cabin 7. They barely had time to sit upright and register that they were in bed together and naked when the door burst open and Chiara Benvenuti and Damien White burst in half-dragging, half-carrying an unconscious Apollo. 

"Che cazzo?!" both Nico and Chiara exclaimed, while Damien unknowingly translated with his own: "What the fuck?!" Will remained in shocked silence as the older campers got Apollo to one of the bunks, and Chiron wheeled into the cabin. Taking in the scene, his glare could match any ever produced by the son of Hades as he bellowed at Will and Nico, "Put some clothes on!" in a perfect and unwitting imitation of Coach Hedge. Chiara was pulling a blanket over Apollo as Will and Nico scrambled to make themselves decent. Nico wondered if this would overtake Albania as the most embarrassing moment of his young life.

Will seemed to recover fastest and rushed to assess Apollo - a concussion, he quickly diagnosed laying his hands on his dad's forehead to focus some healing energy. Chiara and Damien left as quickly as they could, shooting sympathetic glances at their friends on their way out the door. They had never seen Chiron look so angry. He completely ignored Nico as he addressed Will in a clipped tone.

"He'll be alright?"

“Yeah," Will confirmed, voice trembling a bit. Chiron sighed loudly, and stared back and forth between Nico and Will, like he wished he could give each of them a slap.

"You're lucky Chiara and Damien weren't accompanied by any younger campers," he growled. "I've given you two a lot of leeway, but if you can't handle it, I will see to it you never so much as see each other across the dining pavilion! No one is going to inadvertently burst into Cabin 13, guys, but this place can be like Grand Central Station. What were you thinking??" Both boys maintained a mortified silence. Chiron sighed and glared at them again. "Stay with him until he wakes up. Meg's missing."

"We'll go look for her!" Nico offered.

"You'll do what I say!" Chiron growled on his way out the door.

Will sat heavily on his bed for the second time in 12 hours, burying his face in his hands. Nico fell onto his back beside him and stared at the ceiling.

****

Apollo left the camp again shortly after noon after denying Nico and Will's offers of help, instructing them to stay and prepare to protect the camp. As Chiron agreed they could now leave Cabin 7 to get some lunch, they speculated as to what the danger could be on their way to the dining pavilion. They could hardly get their heads around the idea of Roman emperors actually becoming immortal and powerful, let alone what kind of hellish fury they might release on the world. They were joined in the dining pavilion by Chiron, Rachel Dare and the other campers to create some sort of battle plan. Malcolm, of Athena cabin, and Ares' Sherman Yang speculated about where the camp's defenses were weakest. They were all bleakly aware that the camp's resources were severely reduced - 1 centaur with mad archery skills, and less than 20 campers, a few satyrs.

"But we have Nico," Rachel reminded. "He can summon armies of the dead, can't he?"

"Ahhh..." Nico interjected nervously, "not exactly..."

"He's not in top form," Will stated firmly.

"But," Sherman Yang joined in, "Hasn't di Angelo been on restricted powers usage since August? Surely by now he would be able to rally some underworld defenses without wrecking himself."

Will glanced at Nico appraisingly, "Maybe..." he considered.

"I don't need your permission," Nico snapped, annoyed.

Will looked taken aback, "It's not about permission, Nico, it's about what you can handle... ...and maybe you can handle more than what I've been thinking."

Nico thought back to his collapse yesterday, and to how he'd be secretly doing that a few times a week since Christmas. He'd been lulled into a sense of security given the generally calm atmosphere since the battle with Gaea. He was furious with himself, and humiliated, knowing he was going to have to admit that his rigorous training had been in vain, since he'd foolishly tapped his own powers to the breaking point.

Chiron was nodding, "okay, that could work..."

"It can't!" Nico practically shouted. His face was dark and scowling. "I can't.... I... I... haven't exactly been restricting my powers use lately," he admitted. "I've actually been wearing myself pretty thin... training, though, ...but with ghosts... and... stuff..." his voice trailed off as everyone stared at him as if he dashed their last hope, which he sort of had. 

Will looked shocked, and then furious. "What are you talking about?" he sputtered. He laid his hand on Nico's arm, but not with affection or sympathy. Nico felt the electric tingle of a healing assessment, then Will snatched his hand away - "It's true!" he gasped, "Nico!"

Nico couldn't stand his look of disappointment, but before he could say anything in his own defense, Will's son-of-Apollo temper flared.

"What the hell, Nico? How could you do this? This is exactly why you were restricted, Nico! Now when I need you you're going to be useless, and it's my dad, and my siblings' lives on the line, and when you almost fade into nothing again, it'll be on me, me!, to pull you back together again!" 

Chiron opened his mouth to intervene, but when it came to temper the son of Hades and the son of Apollo were perfectly matched.

The atmosphere literally cooled as Nico got in Will's face, not that Will even flinched. "You're just mad I made a decision on my own, Solace, that I'm not going to let you control every aspect of my life. And I was training, Will! Which I wouldn't have to do on my own if there was actually something here to challenge me..."

"Who cares?" Will interrupted. The assembled campers swiveled their heads from Nico to Will. "Your training doesn't mean shit, Nico, because now, when it really counts, you're able to do sweet fuck all!"

"Sweet fucking has been good enough for you lately," Nico growled.

"You're such an asshole!" Will shouted back, as he made to grab Nico's shirt.

"Enough!" Chiron shouted as he landed his fist against the table. "That is enough! Look around you!" The campers' faces ranged from amused to embarrassed to bewildered. Poor Harley was crying. "You ought to be ashamed of yourselves! None of us wanted to hear any of that. You guys are driving me crazy today, and today is not the day, boys! You are acting like infants! Will, you are not Nico’s keeper. Nico, I'm sure your training will serve some purpose. For now, I am separating you two."

"No!" Will and Nico gasped in unison, moving closer together protectively, tempers gone as quickly as they'd come. Separation was worse than any other punishment. The assembled campers knew it too, and all turned their eyes to Chiron, aghast. Chiron's expression relaxed slightly. He always had had soft spot for these boys. "Okay," he relented, "Then you have to...." he searched is mind quickly for something. These two needed to cool down. "Five laps of the canoe lake. Go!"

Nico and Will backed away from the table, hesitating like Chiron might be kidding. "It's January...." Will protested feebly.

Chiron glared at them, "Well, make sure you don't fall in!"


End file.
